Stephen Baldwin pays final $100G in taxes, avoids jail

Actor Stephen Baldwin has put his tax problems behind him and won't face jail time, after paying a final $100,000 in back taxes and receiving a conditional discharge Friday.

Rockland County Judge Charles Apotheker said Baldwin will remain free as long as he is not rearrested and does not commit a crime within the next three years.

Baldwin capped his court appearances by making the last payment to settle his $400,000 state tax debt. His payments covered his guilty plea to a felony count of failure to pay state income tax from 2008-10.

Baldwin, 47, owns property in Upper Grandview.

The actor has said he has changed his lifestyle and taken control of his career, creatively and financially. The youngest of four acting Baldwin brothers has performed in films such as "Bio-Dome" and "The Usual Suspects." He has since said he is a born-again Christian and will no longer take parts in films that glorify sex and violence. He recently appeared in "All-Star Celebrity Apprentice," a reality TV show.

His latest movie was a Christian film, titled "I'm in Love with a Church Girl."

"This has been a great learning curve for me," Baldwin said after court. "We're going to take care of New York state and reconstruct my personal finances and do the right thing."

Outside the County Courthouse in New City, Baldwin and his lawyer, Russell Yankwitt, thanked the prosecutor's office and judge for the opportunity to repay the delinquency.

Yankwitt said Baldwin didn't get any special treatment and many people fall behind with their tax payments and get an opportunity to make restitution.